Philly drug dealer Savage convicted in 12 murders

PHILADELPHIA—A drug dealer has been found guilty in the deaths of a dozen people, including a 2004 firebombing that killed six relatives of someone suspected of being an informant.

Jurors in federal court deliberated for a week before convicting 38-year-old Kaboni Savage on Monday. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty, and penalty phase deliberations are scheduled to begin next week.

Authorities said that although Savage has mostly been in prison since 2003, he gave orders through phone calls and prison visits and communicated with other inmates through prison plumbing pipes.

His 30-year-old sister, Kidada Savage, faces life in prison after being convicted in connection with the firebombing of the home of a man who planned to testify against her brother. The firebombing killed the man's mother, another woman and four children.

Co-defendant Steven Northington was convicted of two counts of murder in aid of racketeering and could face the death penalty in penalty phase deliberations next week.

Kaboni Savage, a former boxer who has denied any role in the attacks, is serving a 30-year drug trafficking sentence. Defense attorneys portrayed him as a drug dealer but not a kingpin and attacked the credibility of prosecution witnesses.

Jurors convicted the Savages, Northington and another defendant, 32-year-old Robert Merritt, of racketeering conspiracy but acquitted Merritt of charges in the firebombing.

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His attorney Williams Spade, told The Philadelphia Inquirer that he was gratified by the acquittals but was struggling to understand the conviction.

The newspaper said Kaboni Savage's attorney, Christian Hoey, declined to comment after the verdict. Kidada Savage's attorney, Christopher Phillips, also declined to comment, and an attorney for Northington did not immediately return a message seeking comment.